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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

So May is Mystery Month, and here it is the last day! Pop Culture Nerd asked for nominations for the inaugural Stalker Awards, given to authors and mysteries/thrillers published in 2010 that 'you're obsessed with.' To vote, go HERE. Poll is open until June 7, 9 p.m. PST. This is certainly a 'different' type of Crime Fiction Award. To follow Pop Culture Nerd, and you should (I do!), go HERE. Great site with reviews, random Nerdy Stuff, movies, interviews and more.

Favorite Novel
The First Rule by Robert CraisThe Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke
Savages by Don Winslow

Favorite Lead Character
Joe Pike (The First Rule)
Dave Robicheaux (The Glass Rainbow)
Lisbeth Salander (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson)

Best Opening Sentence
“F*ck you.” (Savages)
“It all started with my missing hymen.” (Hello Kitty Must Die by Angela S. Choi)
“The night they were hijacked, Roxy Palmer and her husband, Joe, ate dinner with an African cannibal and his Ukrainian whore.” (Wake Up Dead by Roger Smith)

Most Memorable Dialogue
The First Rule
The Glass Rainbow
Savages

Best Title
A Bad Day for Pretty by Sophie Littlefield
Hello Kitty Must Die
The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley

Most Eye-Catching Cover (scroll down below poll to see covers on the link to the page)
City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski
Villain by Shuichi Yoshida

Favorite Author on Social Media (four nominees here due to a tie)
Alafair Burke
Robert Crais
Hilary Davidson
Duane Swierczynski

Monday, May 30, 2011

One of my regrets in life is not being able to read when I sleep. There's just so much time and there are so many books! O.K. the following may not solve the problem, but they would be great fun and somewhat utilitarian, especially for readers.

Blanket with sleeves so you don't get cold while reading in bed. Very useful.

I would really love these police line sheets. Wonder if they come in 600 count?

Sunday, May 29, 2011

I mentioned the new Mob Museum in Las Vegas in my post about Crime and Police Museums on International Museum Day. What I didn't know was that there are actually two "mob museums' in Las Vegas. Battle of the Mobs? The one I mentioned is the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, scheduled to open later this year.

In the meantime, the Las Vegas Mob Experience is open at the Tropicana Hotel and is an interactive combination of skits that visitors take part in, as well as some serious mob history. The Las Vegas Mob Experience is endorsed by the daughter of infamous Chicagto kingpin Sam Giancana. Visitors are given a mob nickname, asked to do favors for a mob boss, and told to lie to a policeman in order to become a member of a mob family. This is advertised as 'interactive entertainment' rather than a museum. Open every day from 10 to 10.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Memorial Day is Monday. This holiday has become part of a three day holiday weekend. Many think of this weekend as the beginning of Summer, a time for barbecues (Barbecue Mysteries), the beach, the cabin, S'mores, but the true meaning of Memorial Day aka Decoration Day is a day of remembrance of those who fell to protect us, those who didn't come home.

Many people go to cemeteries and memorials on the last Monday in May. There is a tradition to fly the flag at half mast and wear poppies, although since that's a WWI observance, not sure if it still happens.Memorial Day MysteriesMemorial Day by Vince FlynnThe Decoration Memorial Day War by David H. BrownMemorial Day by Harry ShannonShadows at the Fair by Lea Wait The Memorial Day Mystery short stories on the web.

One more for the young set: The Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire by Kathryn Kenny, a Trixie Belden mystery.

Amazon released its list of the Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities in America, which was compiled from data for book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format since January 1, 2011, on a per capita basis in cities with more than 100,000 residents. Amazon's Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities are:

"The award grew out of my distaste for most literary prizes," said Dennis Johnson of Melville House. "The point is usually to laud some individual or book that doesn’t really need the stroking. We wanted to come up with something that would better support the ecosystem we live in. The IBCA is good for the author, good for the bookseller, and good for the publisher, and so it’s good for art and industry."

O.K. the drink instructions had me going to the dictionary. I've never tasted cynar or Germain.. and a coupe? well that's the wide mouth champagne glass you see in so many old movies.

So this got me thinking. What other 'detective' drinks were out there? Here's a sampling.

Black Dahlia Martini at the Gallery BarThe Black Dahlia is named after Elizabeth Short, the notorious victim who walked out of the Millennium Biltmore and was later found mutilated in Leimert Park. She later became known as the “Black Dahlia,” a derivative of Raymond Chandler’s popular novel, The Blue Dahlia, and the crime became one of the most publicized in the history of the city.
Fill a mixing glass with ice
3 1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/4 oz Black Raspberry Liqueur
1/4 oz Coffee Liqueur
Stir
Strain into chilled glass
Garnish with orange

Chandler Cocktail A Chandler cocktail is a very strong, fruity cocktail that has a mildly sweet taste, followed by a heavily alcoholic finish.
Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with crushed ice.
Add lime vodka, mango vodka, orange gin, vanilla schnapps, heavy cream and sweetened lime juice to the cocktail shaker.
Cover the cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds. Don't worry about bruising the gin.
Strain the contents of the shaker into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish the finished cocktail with a freshly sliced lemon wheel and serve while ice cold.

The Gimlet (from Hemingway & Bailey's Bartending Guide)The Gimlet was first popularized in America when Chandler’s detective Philip Marlowe introduced the cocktail in The Long Goodbye. To quote Chandler: “A real Gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s Lime Juice and nothing else. It beats martinis hollow.”
2 oz. gin
1 oz. Rose’s Lime Juice
Garnish: Lime wedge
Glass: Cocktail or Rocks
Pour gin and lime juice into a mixing glass filled with ice cubes. Stir well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime wedge. The Gimlet can also be served on the rocks in an Old-Fashioned glass.
See also: The Rap Sheet: A Gimlet for Mr. Chandler (4/15/09)

Perhaps Nick Charles is the most famous sleuth imbiber of cocktails. The constant drinking of this bantering couple never hampered their investigative skills - quite the opposite, in fact. "Can't you say anything about the case?" a detective asks. "Yes," Nick grumbles. "It's putting me way behind in my drinking." Here are two:

Knickerbockerfrom The Thin Man (1934)
50ml gin
Large dash dry vermouth
Small dash sweet vermouth
Add the gin and both vermouths to a mixing glass filled with ice. Once well mixed, strain into a frosted martini glass.

Of course, most detectives just keep a bottle of whiskey in their desk drawer. Not as much fuss. Always available.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Book Giveaway: Win a copy of The Cleveland Creep. Leave a comment stating why you'd like to read Les Roberts' latest mystery. Winner (s) will be announced 5/30/11 on this post. Be sure and leave your email address.

5/30/11!! WINNERS: JAN LONG & DAVID BLOUNT !!!

Les Roberts is the author of 15 mystery novels featuring Cleveland detective Milan Jacovich, as well as 9 other books of fiction. The past president of both the Private Eye Writers of America and the American Crime Writer’s League, he came to mystery writing after a 24-year career in Hollywood. He has been a professional actor, a singer, a jazz musician, and a teacher. In 2003 he received the Sherwood Anderson Literary Award. A native of Chicago, he now lives in Northeast Ohio and is a film and literary critic. Roberts’s newest book, The Cleveland Creep is published by Gray & Company. Roberts can be reached at www.LesRoberts.com

LES ROBERTS:

In my fifteenth in a series about Milan Jacovich, "The Cleveland Creep," notice the Slovenian Cleveland private eye has grown wiser, more mature, and has the same physical problems most senior citizens have. He's started drinking tea, for one thing, and he watches what he eats. Maybe I've actually begun writing a fictionalized autobiography!

When I created Milan in 1987, I made him not quite 40 and a Vietnam vet, divorced, with two boys aged 12 and 7---never dreaming that here I'd be, twenty five years later, still writing about him. Unlike Raymond Chandler telling tales about Philip Marlowe, I began by writing myself into a corner and now I'm stuck with it. I can't avoid the groundwork I laid down in my first effort---so now, yes indeed, Milan has grown older.

Guess what: so have I.

I never took the chances Milan has; I've never been beaten up, shot, or burned with a cigarette, and no one has ever pointed a loaded gun at me. I don't smoke, I don't guzzle Stroh's, and I can't remember the last time I ate a klobasa sandwich for dinner. But yes, I ache when I crawl out of bed in the morning, and you bet your life I can no longer imbibe alcohol like I used to, nor drink an entire pot and a half of coffee every day nor enjoy red meat and potatoes three times a week as in the old days. I don't own Milan's medical problems, but I have plenty of my own; I'm now on a first-name basis with half the people who work at the Cleveland Clinic.

Yet I love my life; I have plenty of excitement and fun and stress like everyone else and will continue until I can no longer sit up straight at a computer. So Milan, who now has life a bit easier because I've supplied him with a young, tough assistant, is enjoying his own life as it moves exorably from one period to another.

Friday, May 20, 2011

The Crime Writers’ Association this evening announced the shortlists for a number of this year’s Daggers at a reception during Crimefest in Bristol. The winners will be announced at an event staged alongside the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate, on Friday July 22. That ceremony will also see the announcement of the shortlists for the three remaining CWA Daggers: the Gold, the Ian Fleming Steel and the John Creasey, for the best first novel.

The 2011 CWA International Dagger Shortlist
This is a competition for crime, thriller, suspense or spy fiction novels which have been translated into English from their original language, for UK publication.

The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri, translated by Stephen Sartarelli (Mantle)
Needle in a Haystack by Ernesto Mallo, translated by Jethro Soutar (Bitter Lemon Press)
The Saint-Florentin Murders by Jean-François Parot, translated by Howard Curtis (Gallic)
Three Seconds by Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström, translated by Kari Dickson (Quercus)
River of Shadows by Valerio Varesi, translated by Joseph Farrell (Maclehose)
An Uncertain Place by Fred Vargas, translated by Siân Reynolds (Harvill Secker)
Death on a Galician Shore by Domingo Villar, translated by Sonia Soto (Abacus)

The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2011 shortlist
Prize: £1000
This is a competition for any non-fiction work on a real-life crime theme or a closely-related subject by an author of any nationality, as long as the book was first published in the UK in English between between 1st June, 2010 and 31st May, 2011. The six books in contention for the Dagger this year are:

The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders (HarperCollins)
Slaughter on a Snowy Morn by Colin Evans (Icon Books)
The Killer of Little Shepherds by Douglas Starr (Simon & Schuster)
In the Place of Justice by Wilbert Rideau (Profile)
The Murder Room by Michael Capuzzo (Michael Joseph)
Mr Briggs’ Hat by Kate Colquhoun (Little, Brown)

The CWA Short Story Dagger 2011
Prize: £500

Wednesday’s Child by Ken Bruen from First Thrills
The Princess of Felony Flats by Bill Cameron from First Thrills
East of Suez, West of Charing Cross Road by John Lawton from Agents of Treachery
Homework by Phil Lovesey from The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime Vol 8
The Dead Club by Michael Palmer & Daniel Palmer from First Thrills

Shortlist for the CWA Dagger in the Library, 2011
Sponsor: The Random House Group
Prize: £1500, plus £300 to a participating library’s readers’ group

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Edward Hardwicke, who played Dr. Watson opposite Jeremy Brett's "Sherlock Holmes" in the Granada Television series of the 1980s and '90s, died Monday, the Telegraph in London reported. He was 78.

Hardwicke replaced David Burke and appeared as Watson in 11 hourlong episodes in Granada's "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" from 1986-88; in two-hour versions of "The Sign of Four" (1987) and "The Hound of The Baskervilles" (1988); and then in seasons broadcast as "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes" (1991) and "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (1994). He also handled the role on the West End stage with Brett in 1989's "The Secret of Sherlock Holmes."
Read the rest of the ARTICLE HERE

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I'm all about holidays, and May 18 is International Museum Day. Planning a trip to an Art Museum? How about a specialty Crime Museum? The following are a few you can visit. This is not a definitive list by any means. Feel free to add your favorites or comment on Museums you've visited.

Crime & Punishment Museum: Washington D.C.
This museum includes a crime lab, the filming studios for America's Most Wanted, a simulated shooting range, a high-speed police-chase, and hundreds of interactive exhibits and artifacts pertaining to America's favorite subject.

The Mob Museum, Las Vegas: Opening December 2011: The Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement — aka The Mob Museum — will be an interactive museum dedicated to the history of organized crime and law enforcement. The museum will focus on organized crime's impact on Las Vegas history and its unique imprint on America and the world.

The Black Museum, London, England: The Black Museum of Scotland Yard is a famed collection of criminal memorabilia kept at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London, England. Started in 1874, although unofficially, by 1875, it had become an official museum of the force, with a police inspector and a police constable assigned to duty there.

Art in the Streets: MOCA, Los Angeles. America's first major graffiti show celebrates urban sabotage. The Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles has just opened what it bills as America’s first major museum survey of graffiti. Read a scathing review of this exhibit here. Then go and see it yourself.

American Police Hall of Fame & Museum: Titusville, FL The American Police Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1960. It is the nation's first national police museum and memorial dedicated to law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

Spy Museum, Washington, D.C. The only public museum in the United States solely dedicated to espionage and the only one in the world to provide a global perspective on a profession that has shaped history and continues to have a significant impact on world events. The Museum features the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed on public display.

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Popular Culture Association's Detective/Mystery Caucus announced its latest George N. Dove Award recipients for contributions to the serious study of mystery and crime fiction: P. D. James and Emory University's Catherine Ross Nickerson, author of The Web of Iniquity: Early Detective Fiction by American Women, 1998, and editor of the Cambridge Companion to American Crime Fiction, 2010).

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Every year, the Inn at the Tides in Bodega Bay hosts a special appearance by Tippi Hedren. Here's some information on the locale and filming fromThe Inn at the Tides website:

In 1961, Alfred Hitchcock needed a remote coastal location for his next film. He had already shot one movie in the area: the 1942 thriller, “Shadow of a Doubt,” filmed in Santa Rosa. He needed a spot that would give him clear shots of sky, without interference from trees and mountains.

“The Birds” is based on a short story by Daphne DuMaurier. Essentially a mood piece, DuMaurier's story chronicles the struggles of a farmer and his family when murderous birds attack their English seashore village. Screenwriter Evan Hunter, whose credits include “The Blackboard Jungle” and “Last Summer,” changed the location to the California coast. The story immediately suggested a myriad of cinematic possibilities that stirred Hitchcock's creative instincts.

Financed by his successful television show and filmed with equipment borrowed from the Revue Studio, “The Birds” debuted as Hitchcock's first horror/fantasy film. It has come to be known as a precursor to modern horror movies and marks the first time cinematic animals acted in an organized attack on humans.

Hitchcock picked the towns of Bodega and Bodega Bay to serve as the setting for his thriller featuring Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette and, of course, the birds. At the time, the special effects utilized were enough to thrill and frighten young and old, and the film continues to affect modern day viewers. Mechanical and live-trained birds were used in the film, along with optically altered film overlay of flying birds. The film took almost three years to complete before it was released in 1963.

Hitchcock chose the Bodega Bay area for the foggy weather and skyline, which at that time was subdued and open. When the time came for shooting, however, Hitchcock despaired at the clear and sunny skies.“It's a color film,” he said, “and I wanted it dark and gloomy. Now we'll have to subdue the color in the film lab.”

The ancient Potter School had already been condemned and abandoned as a schoolhouse when Hitchcock discovered it in Bodega. Film crews shored up and rebuilt it for the filming. With the exception of the gazebo featured in the party scene, the school is the only original building used in the film that still stands to this day. Huge papiermâché ravens were placed on every available surface. Great flocks of these imitation actors were wired to flap their wings for effect.

The school teacher's house next to the school was a facade built by the film crew for the filming. When birds kill Suzanne Pleshette's character, the Bodega Catholic Church can be seen in the film for a moment. A famous photograph by Ansel Adams has made the church well known beyond its appearance in “The Birds.”

Scouting around for a house that would do for the main characters, Hitchcock picked an abandoned bay side home owned by Rose Gaffney, a feisty local rancher who had just achieved local notoriety in a successful crusade against PG&E's proposed nuclear power plant. Gaffney's friend, Don Howe of Salmon Creek recalls, “A limousine pulled up to Rose Gaffney's house, and a messenger said that Mr. Hitchcock would like to speak to her.” Gaffney's reply was simple and blunt: “Who?”

The crew essentially built a different house around Gaffney's as well as some outbuildings. Its manicured yard appeared almost instantaneously when the crew rolled out the lawn and planted daffodils in full bloom. In the ‘60's, the road out to Bodega Head was unpaved past Mason's Marina. A dock was built for star Tippi Hedren to land her rented boat when she crossed the harbor to “Mitch's house.”Unfortunately, these structures burned down in the late sixties. They stood at the current location of the entrance to University of California Bodega Marine Laboratory dormitories.

The Tides Wharf Restaurant and parking lot in Bodega Bay were used for the gas station, cafe and boat dock scenes. (The gas station was blown up on a studio lot.) The Tides complex has been expanded and remodeled several times since then. When the 1960's owner of The Tides, Mitch Zankich, allowed Hitchcock to use the restaurant in “The Birds” he made three stipulations: the town in the movie would be called “Bodega Bay;” the male lead played by Rod Taylor would be named “Mitch;” and Zankich would receive a “speaking part.”If you're listening at the right moment, you can here him say those immortal words: “What happened, Mitch?”

In the years following the film's release, whenever the film was aired on television, The Tides called in extra staff the following day to accommodate the curious. Local Hazel Mitchell worked as a Tides waitress during the filming and waited on the famous director -- who only wanted “green beans and filet of sole and nothing else, Miss” - as well as the stars of the film. The waitress in the movie bears an uncanny resemblance to a youthful Hazel.

The other farmhouse where the farmer is killed in his home by birds was filmed at a ranch in Valley Ford. The scene that took place there was a typical example of Hitchcock's genius: when Jessica Tandy - after having discovered the farmer's body - drove off from the farm at breakneck speed, her panic was beautifully expressed in visual terms by the dust that flew up from the road. At the beginning of the scene, however, when she arrived there, the dust didn't fly up, because for that show Hitchcock had the road watered down. The original farmhouse is gone but the trees and driveway are the same. It was private then and remains so.

In one of the opening scenes, Tippi Hedren is driving into Bodega Bay on a winding scenic road above the town. Bay Hill Road can be found entering Highway One both north and south of town. At the north end, drive up about a mile until you can safely turn around, come back and park alongside the road and have a look. It's almost the very same scene that was filmed over 30 years ago.

Almost all of the inside scenes were recreated very specifically from the original buildings and shot on sound stages at Universal Studios. The exterior shots were filmed on location. Many of the aerial and faraway shots were painted mattes amplifying the size of the town.

There are still a lot of birds in Bodega Bay, and I think I'll pop in Memorial Day Weekend to see Tippi!

MYSTERY READERS JOURNAL: LONDON MYSTERIES I (VOLUME 27:1)TABLE OF CONTENTS
London—Crime Central of History by Alan J. Bishop
This Is the City: London by Gary Garner

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
The Charm of London Town by Kate Charles
My London by Rory Clements
London Calling by Liza Cody
Trish Maguire by Natasha CooperMasquerading in Secret London by Deborah Crombie
A Country House Mystery in London by Anna Dean
"Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner..." by Carola Dunn
London: A Capital City by Martin Edwards
The Most Peculiar Detectives by Christopher Fowler
A Survey of Medieval London by Margaret Frazer
What To Leave In, What To Leave Out by Peg Herring
London—Spies and Titles by Gay Toltl Kinman
To London with Love by Clare Langley-Hawthorne
Sweeping Mysterious London by Amy Myers
Cor Blimey, Guv'nor! by Barbara Nadel
So Just Where Is 221B? by Michael Robertson
In Pursuit of the Murder by Verna Suit
Love Me Deadly by JoAnne Soper-Cook
The Spell of London by Charles Todd
London—Past Imperfect by Dan Waddell
My London by Jacqueline Winspear
My Love Affair with London by Patricia Wynn
London: the Great Literary City by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

REVIEWS
The Devil's Home on Leave: Derek Raymond's Factory Series by Dan Fleming
The Law in London by Jim Doherty
Noblesse Noblige: Robert Barnard's A Scandal in Belgravia by Katherine Hall Page

COLUMNS
In Short: "I'm in London Again" by Marvin Lachman
Just the Facts: Truth Beneath a Tattered Coat by Jim Doherty
Crime Seen: The Mean Streets of London by Kate Derie
From the Editor's Desk by Janet A. Rudolph

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Janet Dawson will be our guest at a Literary Salon, May 12, at 7 p.m. in Berkeley, CA. I asked her to share some thoughts on the publication of her latest mystery, Bit Player. To RSVP and for directions to the Lit Salon, leave a comment at the end of the post.

Janet Dawson has written ten novels featuring Oakland private investigator Jeri Howard. Her first, Kindred Crimes, won the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America contest for best first private eye novel. It was nominated in the best first category for three mystery awards, the Shamus, the Macavity and the Anthony.

JANET DAWSON: The Plot With A Mind Of Its Own

BIT PLAYER was supposed to be a short story.

In two earlier Jeri Howard novels, KINDRED CRIMES and TILL THE OLD MEN DIE, I mention that my protagonist Jeri Howard had a grandmother named Jerusha who went to Hollywood. Jerusha Layne worked in the movies as an extra and bit player before quitting the business to marry Jeri’s grandfather.

A bit player is one step up from an extra, someone who speaks dialogue (bits, in actor parlance) but is in the background. Think about the sales clerk selling the star some perfume. That’s a bit player.

Giving Jeri’s grandmother the Hollywood pedigree made for a great backstory. As the series progressed I thought it would be fun to have Jeri investigate an unsolved Hollywood murder in her grandmother’s past.

I must confess that the plot was influenced by the nonfiction book A CAST OF KILLERS by Sidney Kirkpatrick, which explores the 1922 murder of Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor. Like the victim in my plot, Taylor was shot and killed in his bungalow one dark night in Tinseltown. I won’t go into details about that crime and its many suspects. An Internet search on William Desmond Taylor will net multiple links and all sorts of information.

A few years ago, in between drafts of the standalone I was writing at the time, I began what I thought was a short story. When I reached 60-plus pages, I conceded that the story wanted to be novel. But I didn’t have time to write it then. Plus I wasn’t sure that the plot of Jeri investigating an old Hollywood murder was enough to sustain a novel. So I put BIT PLAYER aside.

In 2009 I took out the story again, determined to take a Number 2 pencil to it and whack, trim, cut, and prune that story into submission. It wouldn’t submit.

So I threw up my hands and said, “Okay, you’re a novel.”

I contacted Meredith Phillips, editor at Perseverance Press, who had earlier expressed an interest in another Jeri Howard novel, if I planned to write one. It looked like I was going to do just that. I turned the short story into several beginning chapters and a synopsis and Perseverance Press bought the book. I fleshed out my plot-in-the-past with a contemporary crime involving collectible movie memorabilia—and more murder, of course.

BIT PLAYER was published in April 2011 and I’m pleased at the reviews as well as the reaction from mystery fans who tell me they are delighted that Jeri Howard is back on the case.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

My house is stacked with books everywhere, and that doesn't include the bookcases. A thief entering my home would be so overwhelmed by all the books that I doubt he would be able to find 'valuables' in any of them, even if he had time to look. I've always been fascinated by Book Safes. You can buy book safes--hollowed out books which will hold jewelry or coins-- from just about anywhere. On Amazon HERE AND HERE or on Etsy at Secret Safe Books. Personally I think a book safe is better than an Ajax or Coke Can because those 'mini' safes might get thrown out by the cleaner. Besides, I love books!

The NYT last week had a great article on the return of the home safe, including the book safe. I know, I know.. sacrilege.. destroying a book, but if you choose a book that a thief.. or anyone else.. is unlikely to pull off the bookshelf such as an outdated almanac, perhaps, your valuables won't be found. Just remember what book you chose and where you put it. Daunting in my house--the land of books.

I've told my nephews over the years that when I'm gone, they will need to go through every pocket, every box, every drawer and now every book if they indeed want to find all that jewelry and money I've ferreted away ... well, not quite treasure, but I do tend to take off earrings and money and shove them in small boxes and crevices. I rarely use money as bookmarks, but who knows..or better yet.. who remembers. Pay attention, boys, and do as your aunt instructed.

First, consider what you plan to hide in it and how much time you’re willing to put into making the Book Safe. Thick books will allow you to make a deeper cavity, but carving out that cavity will require more time. A thin book will hold less treasure, but necessitate less cutting time.

Second, choose a book that will fit in on your shelf. If you’ve got a shelf full of new mystery paperbacks, a large vintage medical textbook will look suspicious and out of place.

Third, consider picking a book that people aren’t likely to pull off your shelf out of curiosity. Think The Economic History of Kazakhstan instead of The Joy of Sex.

But if you’re giving the book safe as a gift, choose a volume that suits the personality and interests of the intended recipient.

Gather Your Supplies. You’ll need:
a book
a box cutter
a brush
puzzle glue (pH neutral)
a ruler to mark the outline of your secret compartment
a few extra blades for your box cutter.

Mark off a few pages in the front. Don't start carving out the secret compartment on the very first page. Leave a few pages in the front untouched, so the compartment is covered and the book looks normal when initially opened.

Wrap the cover with plastic bags. To keep glue off of the cover, wrap it with plastic bags (or waxed paper). Stick one in-between the pages you marked off in the front and wrap it around the front cover. Then wrap another bag around the back cover.

Brush glue on the outside of the pages. Brush the glue on the outside of the pages all around the book. Put on a few layers, but make sure to smooth out any globs as they will dry white. Press the book firmly in your hand to keep the pages together as you glue them.

Place the book in a vice or under a weight. To cut down on warping, place the book in a vice or under a heavy weight such as several large books. The pressure will hold the pages together as the glue dries. Let the book dry for about an hour.

Draw the outline of your secret compartment. Using a ruler, trace an outline of the secret compartment on the first page of the glued together section of your book. It can be any size or shape you want, but leave at least a half an inch border all around it.

Cut out the secret compartment. Using a box cutter, cut along the outline of your secret compartment. Do this slowly. Don’t try to do too much at one time or you’ll end up with ragged edges. The hardest part is the corners; every now and then go back and clean them up. This is the part of the project that takes the most time. Rotate and replace the blade of the box cutter a few times in order to keep it sharp and efficient.If you have one, you can also use a scroll saw to cut out the compartment, which saves a ton of time and also allows you to make the compartment into more creative shapes.

Brush glue on the inside of the cut pages. You can also add another layer of glue to the outside of the cut pages if they look like they need it.

The nominations are taken from votes cast by members of Bouchercon, the current year (2011) and the previous year (2010). The awards are named after Anthony Boucher, a book reviewer and early champion of the mystery genre. Attendees will vote for this year’s winners at the 2011 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in St. Louis (Sep 15 – 18). The winners will be announced at the awards brunch on the morning of September 18th.
For more information about the Anthony Awards and the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, please visit www.Bouchercon2011.com.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Mother's Day: So many infamous Mothers in Crime Fiction. However, this list focus on books set during the Mother's Day holiday. If I listed all the mysteries and crime fiction with famous and infamous mothers, the list would be way too long. Be sure and scroll down to the Psycho Trailer!

MOTHER'S DAY MYSTERIES

Angel at Troublesome Creek by Mignon F. BallardHow to Murder Your Mother-in-Law by Dorothy CannellMother's Day Murder by Wensley ClarksonMurder Can Upset Your Mother by Selma EichlerBon Bon Voyage by Nancy FairbanksMurder for Mother: Short Story collection, edited by Martin S. GreenbergMurder Superior by Jane HaddamThe Mother’s Day Murder by Lee HarrisMother’s Day by Patricia MacDonaldMother's Day by Dennis McDougalMother’s Day Murder by Leslie MeierMom, Apple Pie & Murder: A collection of New Mysteries for Mother’s Day, edited by Nancy PickardMother’s Day by Joshua Quittner and Michelle SlatallaA Mother's Day Murder by Genevieve Scholl

Want to do something nice for your Mother on Mother's Day? Give her some great mysteries or... my other passion...chocolate. Check out my other blog DyingforChocolate for great recipes, thoughts, reviews and chocolate-related info.

Sasscer Hill lives on a Maryland farm and has bred racehorses for many years. A winner of amateur steeplechase events, she has galloped her horses on the farm and trained them into the winner's circle. She is the author of several mysteries in the Chesapeake Crimes' anthology series, and her articles have appeared in numerous magazines. Full Mortality is her first novel. The first chapter of FULL MORTALITY is available to read online at http://fullmortality.blogspot.com/

SASSCER HILL:

There are several colts I like in the Derby. A horse named Dialed In, whose trainer is Nick Zito; a horse named Nehro, with Steve Asmussen as the trainer; and finally, my emotional pick, Pants on Fire.

How can you not like a racehorse with a name like Pants on Fire? My heart is bound to this colt and his female jockey because of the rider’s connection to my horse racing mystery, Full Mortality. My book features the young, female, Maryland-jockey, Nikki Latrelle. Two of the themes in the Latrelle series are “fighting the odds,” and “chasing the dream.” In the Derby, Pants on Fire will be ridden by a young Maryland gal who, like Nikki, is competing with the male jocks. Her name is Anna Napravnik. Fans call her Rosie because of her red hair.

Many believe Pants on Fire has a lot of speed, but not the stamina to go the Derby distance of one and one-quarter miles. His pedigree and improving performances suggest otherwise.

“Fire’s” trainer is a man named Kelly Breen who knew his colt had brilliant speed. But Breen entered Fire into the one-million-dollar Loiuisiana Derby a few weeks back as a “rabbit” – that is, a horse to set a rocket pace that forces the other horses to go faster than they like, and allow a come-from-behinder with a late kick to blow by the field in the last strides. Fire was supposed to do this for Breen’s other entry, Nacho Business.

But Fire blossomed right before the Louisiana Derby, and despite Breen’s pre-race planning, he sensed his colt was sitting on a big race in the Louisiana Derby.

“I told Rosie,” Breen said, “that I thought this horse was coming into his own. So I said to her, ‘Give it a shot. Don’t just think we’re in here because we have nothing better to do. He’s doing awfully well. You don’t have to wing it and be a rabbit. Just be in a spot where you can win it when the time comes.’”

And she did!

Now, Pants on Fire is giving Anna Napravnik the chance to chase her biggest dream – winning the Kentucky Derby. Can you imagine the remarks by pundits and the press if the redheaded, Anna “Rosie” Napravnik beats the boys and wins the Kentucky Derby riding a horse named Pants On Fire?

Friday, May 6, 2011

The 137th Kentucky Derby will take place on Saturday. Read a few horse-racing mysteries to set the mood for the day. Be sure and have some Derby Pie, too, it's filled with chocolate, bourbon and walnuts or pecans. I have a round-up of Chocolate Kentucky Derby recipes on Dying for Chocolate. Be sure and read tomorrow's post on the Kentucky Derby by author Sasscer Hill.

Kentucky Derby Mysteries: Triple Crown by Jon Breen

Triple Cross by Kit EhrmanIntercept by Mary Jane ForbesSilent Partner by Karen JonesSnip by Doc MacomberMurder at the Kentucky Derby by Charles Palmer

Kentucky Derby Short Stories:
"The Gift" by Dick Francis is set at the Kentucky Derby. It is in the collection Field of Thirteen. "The Gift" first appeared as "A Day of Wine and Roses" in Sports Illustrated, 1973.Derby Rotten Scoundrels: A Silver Dagger Anthology, edited by Jeffrey Marks Low Down and Derby, a collection of fast paced mystery stories set around the Kentucky Derby, by fifteen authors from the Ohio River Valley Chapter of Sisters in Crime.Murder at the Races, a collection of Short Stories including "A Derby Horse", edited by Peter Haining.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Although there were others, this list of 10 technologies that changed literature forever stands out. List from Onlinecolleges.net. Read the Entire article and reasons HERE. After you read the article, let me know what you think. It's not my list, but it's sure interesting.

1. Written Language

2. Stylus

3. Ink

4. Paper

5. Binding

6. Movable Type

7. Printing Presses

8. Internet: Nobody will deny that computers and other digital technologies left a major imprint on the publishing world, but the internet’s popularity surge changed it even more. Blogging especially provided many promising authors a forum in which to share their ideas, reaching a much broader audience than traditional analog outlets. It opened them up to more networking conduits than before as well, and online writing forums still bring together creators worldwide wanting to better hone their skills. Niche and/or underground mediums and genres such as comics, zines and fanfiction received a pixilated makeover and currently thrive much closer to the mainstream than they once did. Along with text messaging, chat speak led to a major evolution in language, spawning a vernacular consisting most visibly of abbreviations, acronyms and ironic misspellings. Brand new mediums such as webcomics and Twitter novels both sprang up as a direct result of the internet’s prolificacy.

9. Ebook Readers:By this point, both gadget buffs and their Luddite counterparts are largely sick of hearing about whether or not ebook readers will render traditional books obsolete. Time, obviously, will reveal the truth. Regardless, devices such as the Kindle, Nook and Readers tantalize audiences who delight in carrying multiple books in one sleek package. For the ardent bibliophile, investing in an ebook reader might actually prove an economical decision from both financial and spatial perspectives. Many nonfiction and fiction works come at a significant discount when bought in a digital format, with most public domain classics available completely gratis. If nothing else, less paper laying around reduces one’s risk of a fire…

10. Tablet Computers:The next stage in computing possesses the same perks as an ebook reader, but expands upon them for a wholly different experience. iPads are probably the first tablet computers everyone thinks about thanks to aggressive marketing and avowed Apple fanatics, but they are by no means alone out there. Unlike ebook readers, these seriously cool gadgets incorporate almost all the hallmarks of home computing. This allows for a far higher degree of interactivity with texts — an absolutely amazing prospect whose potential has yet to be even a fraction explored so far.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Last year I blogged about Cinco de Mayo Mysteries. I added a few titles, but I thought I'd run the post again for those who missed it...or won't take the extra step to click. :-)

I've supplemented the list with Mexican mystery writers and books set in Mexico. Add to your reading pleasure today with a Mexican Chocolate Celebration. Check out my other Blog, Dying for Chocolate, for recipes and suggestions of great Chocolate for Cinco de Mayo. Entrees, drinks and desserts and more desserts. I've also posted several recipes for mole poblano. The most recent are for moles made with animal crackers.

Cinco de Mayo Mysteries

The Cinco de Mayo Murder by Lee HarrisA Corpse for Cuamantla by Harol MarshallCinco de Mayo by Michael Martineck (science fiction/but cross-over) The Bane of Cinco de Mayo by Nathan S. MitchellThe Cinco de Mayo Reckoning by Terry Money

Not meaning to be complete in any way, I put together a few titles by Mexican authors or mysteries set in Mexico or related to the Mexican experience in some way (but not to Cinco de Mayo).

K.C. Constantine, reclusive author, made his first public appearance in his writing career at the 16th annual Festival of Mystery in Oakmont, PA on Monday. He gave an interview and had his photo taken.

K.C. Constantine is the author of the long-running mystery series featuring Mario Balzic, police chief of the fictional town of Rocksburg, PA. His real name is Carl Constantine Kosak. He is 76. Read more HERE.

Monday, May 2, 2011

More Awards: The Los Angeles Times announced the Book Prizes at a ceremony last Friday. Below find three of the prizes of special interest to mystery readers. Of course, all the prizes recognize some great writers... To see the entire list, go HERE. Congratulations to all!

Mystery / Thriller Winner

Tom Franklin, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter (William Morrow)

2010 Innovator’s Award

The Innovator’s Award recognizes the people and institutions that are doing cutting edge work to bring books, publishing and storytelling into the future, whether in terms of new business models, new technologies or new applications of narrative art.